Workplace context as a moderator of training transfer

Safety at work represents a relevant topic also nowadays as in Europe almost 3.000 workers are still dying every year due to accidents at work. An important preventive measure that largely demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing occupational injuries and enhance workers' health is the development of organizational interventions such as safety training. However, in order to reduce accidents, the mere implementation of safety training courses is not enough as knowledge gained through the training should be applied to the workplace to be effective. This process refers to the transfer of training which has been defined as "the extent to which the learning that results from a training experience transfers to the job and leads to meaningful changes in work performance" ([1], p. 1066). Therefore, the main aim of this study is to add knowledge concerning the efficacy of safety training interventions through the analysis of the role of context in the transfer of safety training. Thus, we hypothesized that safety climate could moderate the relationship between safety knowledge (acquired via training) and transfer of training. A research study conducted in a vocational training organization involved 123 workers attending different safety training courses. The questionnaire was composed by items concerning safety knowledge, safety climate and transfer of training (measured as intention to transfer). Most of the participants were men (95%) and the mean average was 41 years old. The moderation effect was tested through a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results showed that safety climate moderated the relationship between safety knowledge and transfer of training. In other words, the workers perceiving lower levels of safety knowledge together with higher levels of safety climate reported higher levels of training transfer compared to their colleagues that perceived lower levels of safety climate. On the other side, among workers in conditions of high safety knowledge, the level of transfer wasn't influenced by safety climate. Thus, our hypothesis has been supported. This study presents both theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical point of view our results provided further evidences concerning the effect of safety climate on the transfer of safety training. Furthermore, findings provided suggestions to firms on how contextual factors (such as safety climate) should be enhanced in order to increase the efficacy and the usefulness of safety training and consequently reduce accidents and injuries on the workplace.